It’s been a long road for Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan in his professional career but this weekend the Irish middleweight will have the biggest opportunity of his career yet when he boxes as chief support on the Gennady Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez 2 bill in Las Vegas.

O’Sullivan knows that a win in impressive fashion this weekend could very well set up a world title shot next year.

A dream he has not let die over the years.

Despite two losses to Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr, he’s consistently made improvements in his diet, physical training techniques, all round fight game under trainer Paschal Collins and even in his own promotional and marketing efforts.

Add to this the opportunities he has seized with two hands over the last year or so fighting on US television, in terms of putting on fan-friendly, all action fights that American boxing fans lap up.

All of the above have played a part in getting him to this point on Saturday when he hits the big time in Vegas.

This weekend he takes on big hitting former champion David Lemieux who is perhaps still smarting from getting out boxed in his home country of Canada last December by close O’Sullivan friend and current WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders.

Lemieux like O’Sullivan will have plenty of motivation coming into this weekend’s battle.

O’Sullivan looks to have taken that threat deadly serious with being in career best condition coming into the bout.

Style-wise, both O’Sullivan and Lemieux like to come forward and throw bombs and have provided a history of fun fights over the years.

There’s no reason why this weekend will be any different and judging by the back and forth verbal jabs between the two on social media in the build-up, a healthy edge and needle appears to be prevalent which should guarantee an entertaining pre-cursor to this weekend’s mega fight between Golovkin and Canelo in Sin City.

From an Irish boxing perspective for Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan, it’s not often a fighting Irishman finds himself on such a worldwide boxing platform in Las Vegas, outside of Conor McGregor in the UFC that is.

No doubt there will be plenty of support for him in the fight capital of the world come Saturday.